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     Blake |
Classic. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Trojan |
Yadaa yadaa yadaa...... How would he know, he always avoided racing the best in the world and stayed in AMA because the money was better. Doesn't he wonder why nobody in GP's (or WSB) ever wanted to hire him after his less than stellar peformance for Cagiva when he had a (very brief) stab at it. Mladin has always been full of bluff, bluster and BS, and this is no exception. If he was that good he would have won on the world stage but he never did, so is hardly qualified to comment on current GP riders. I get sick of reading ex racers saying how good they were (Fogarty and Mladin should just retire and stop the BS) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jaimec |
Two people have beaten Mat in his tenure as the "Best ever in AMA Superbike." Nicky Hayden who was "Rookie of the Year" in his first MotoGP season, and went on to become the 2006 MotoGP champ, And Ben Spies who annhilated the WSBK field in his first and only year. That speaks volumes right there. If you want more proof, just ask Neil Hodgson how easy it is to beat Mat. Or any of the other Europeans who came to AMA Superbike and got their asses handed to them. (Message edited by jaimec on March 10, 2010) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4cammer |
I really dislike that fella. Almost every interview it seems like he feels the need to bag on other racers. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jaimec |
In one interview with he said something I'll never forget. I'm paraphrasing here, but the difference between him and Valentino Rossi is that Rossi will smile as he's sticking the knife in your back... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Playhard |
Trojan, "Mladin has always been full of bluff, bluster and BS, and this is no exception", really??? I've followed Matt for years. If you would have, you would know why he never went to the "world stage". He is a family man, always has been, and thus had absolutely no interest in leaving his family to travel the world circuit, which is extremely demanding, although he's probably had more offers then any other rider to date. He has repeated his reason year after year and it has never changed. Not to mention, he was riding for the best team in the AMA and making more money then any other rider.... Ben came onto the Suzuki Team late in Matt's career and challenged him, no doubt, and went on to be the WSB champ. But if you watched every race between the two of them, they were nose to tall in almost all of them with Matt winning his share of their duels. In fact, in Ben's last year Matt would have won the #1 plate if it wouldn't have been for a DQ at VIR. And don't even say it, all three bikes had the same cranks in them. It just so happens Matt's got torn down because he won both races that weekend. The guy is not very friendly, comes off as rude and as an arrogant person, but to say he is not one of the best, if not the best, to ever throw a leg of a motorcycle is ridiculous. His record speaks for itself. A record that will likely never be broken. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Blake |
"How would he know, he always avoided racing the best in the world..." Uh, he beat Ben Spies, Neil Hodgeson, Ben Bostrom, Nicky Hayden and others a number of times. Ben Spies proved himself without a doubt the best Superbike racer in the world last year. Back before spec tires when AMA SBK and WSBK shared tech specs the AMA racers were dominate at Laguna Seca. I don't understand why some seem to make a mission of slagging on America motorcycle road racing. Whenever we send our Superbike champions over to the Euro series, they dominate. I watched the entire 12-part OTT interview of Mat. He's certainly arrogant and opinionated. I often disagree with him. When it comes to superbike racing, he has HUGE credibility. Attacking him personally is poor form. Interestingly, Mat states in one session that other racers are more talented than he, his point being that he outworked them and maintained the mental state to prevail. He's absolutely right. Like him or no, the OTT interview series is VERY interesting and informative. Mat talks in detail about his approach to controlling the motorcycle on the track. Really interesting stuff! I'll probably watch the whole thing again. Thank you OTT! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Blake |
"In fact, in Ben's last year Matt would have won the #1 plate if it wouldn't have been for a DQ at VIR." Not! In 2008, Ben beat Mat 652 to 557 for the AMA Superbike Championship. Had Mat not been DQ'd from his VIR results, he would have finished the season with 632 points. At VIR he would have earned 36 points for each race win plus 2 for most laps led in each race, plus 1 for winning pole position, a total of 75 points; 557+75=632, still twenty points less than Spies' total. But wait, Ben's total would have dropped a total of ten points for coming in 2nd at VIR. Still that puts his total at 642, still greater than 632. Ben won no matter. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jaimec |
I think both Ben and Mat considered that "DQ" political BS. Ben wanted to make sure he had enough points to win even if Mat never got that DQ. In the three years Ben held the Number 1 plate, Mat actually WON more races, but Ben was the more consistent rider and rode "for the points." Mat just wanted the race win. Ben won the WSBK championship the same way. There was no reason for him to win Race #2 after Haga crashed, so he rode conservatively in that race and finished just high enough to win the overall title. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Blake |
True, but WSBK points put a lot more emphasis on winning that the current ASBK points rules. 2nd place in WSBK earns just 80% of the points for 1st. 2nd place in ASBK earns 89% of the points for 1st with the clarification that there is also one point per race for most laps led, and one point per event for winning pole. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Buell2001b |
just look at john hopkins who runned in motoGP and in AMA is not even competetive. europeans are overated to bad Buell did not make it to WSB. it would have kicked some but with the right racer, like Danny | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kenneth |
Hopper finished 4th in the 2007 motogp championship, one place behind Rossi. He was on sub par equipment throughout his motogp career and consistently outperformed his teammates. He has run exactly 1 AMA American Superbike round in which he had a mechanical and you have deemed him not competitive. Though I appreciate your enthusiasm for racing, you should do a little more research before disparaging talented racers, and john's lap times at Daytona were very respectable to be on non factory equipment. (Message edited by kenneth on March 10, 2010) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Trojan |
I've followed Matt for years. If you would have, you would know why he never went to the "world stage". He is a family man, always has been, and thus had absolutely no interest in leaving his family to travel the world circuit, which is extremely demanding, although he's probably had more offers then any other rider to date. He has repeated his reason year after year and it has never changed. Not to mention, he was riding for the best team in the AMA and making more money then any other rider.... If you had truly followed 'Matt' for years then you'd know that it is spelled 'Mat' with just one T (not the proper way that the rest of us spell it  ). Most racers have families and like to spend time with them. However to use that as an excuse not to race at the very top is very lame indeed. If he was that concerned about his family he would have got a regular 9-5 job with weekends off. Most racers also want to compete against the best in the world in the best championship in the world. Mladin didn't do that because he liked being a big fish in a relatively small pond, and liked what he was paid in AMA Superbike racing (considerably more than anybody earned in WSBK at the time). It was his decision not race in WSBK or GP ,although to be honest he was never really chased with lucrative offers from the top factories from either series, despite your assertions. He is therefore not in a position to compare himself to the top GP riders out there now because he has never raced any of them except Nicky Hayden some years ago. A great rider will win on any bike and on any circuit, so I have no doubt that Rossi, Haga, Stoner, Pedrosa, Lorenzo and a few others would give Mladin a run for his money wherever they raced. If he had bothered to travel to Europe at some time he would have found to his surprise that some circuits here are just as tough as US tracks (Ever tried Cadwell Park or Pau?). But he didnt, so yet again he is unqualified to give an opinion. I don't understand why some seem to make a mission of slagging on America motorcycle road racing. Whenever we send our Superbike champions over to the Euro series, they dominate. I'm certainly not slagging US races or US racing. Mladin is Australian after all . What I object to is Mladin (and other ex racers who should know better such as Fogarty) making huge assumptions that they can't back up with evidence, yet being viewed as credible because of who he is (or was). If he is the most succesful AMA racer ever then he should restrict his opinions to that series instead of making inflammatory remarks about a series that he never raced in and didn't want him anyway. As for the 'he beat Hodgson, Hayden etc.....' Mladin enjoyed far better equipment than either of those guys ever did in AMA racing and if you look back to the days when Honda actually invested time and money in AMA then DuHamel and Hayden beat Mladin most weekends. Whenever we send our Superbike champions over to the Euro series, they dominate. With the exception of Nicky Hayden and Ben Spies who else in recent years has come over and won? Spies won WSBK last year in impressive fashion but he didn't 'dominate', as the title was decided at the very last round of the year. Other than those two there has been a noticeable lack of US racers in WSBK and GP racing for some years now. I keep saying that there is considerable youthful talent in US racing right now. Josh Herrin and Patrick Jacobsen should come to WSBK/GP racing as soon as they can, and I'm pleased that Jason DiSalvo has at last made the move to WSS(although he would be better with a Yamaha/Honda team than Triumph I think) Kenny Noyes has also made a big impression in early Moto2 testing but he has of course done pretty much all of his road racing in Spain so far, so isn't well known in the US yet (although I think he won the National Singles Dirt Track title a few years ago?). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jaimec |
There was one winter where Mat missed the practice sessions in the States and was given permission to practice at Philip Island with the WSBK crowd. Corser was the WSBK champ at that time and Mat cleaned his clock on the track. Please, Mat raced in the States for the reasons stated and not because he wasn't good enough to race anyplace else. As for Ben's domination: Yeah, by the points he just barely won, but consider the other statistics: He won 50% of the races he was in, and took all but two pole positions. He broke lap records at tracks he'd NEVER seen before (and on a bike and brand he'd never ridden till this year). On the one track he was familiar with (Miller in Utah) he so completely decimated the rest of the field it wasn't even close; the race was for second place. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gaesati |
i look forward to watching Spies towards the second half of this season. I still think as I did last year that we are looking at a talent on the level of Wayne Rainey. Podiums before June, wins by september! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Trojan |
I agree that Spies is a huge talent and will be the best US racer in GP's for years (including Hayden). Whether he can bridge the gap between the aliens and the rest is anyones guess but if anyone can it should be him. There was one winter where Mat missed the practice sessions in the States and was given permission to practice at Philip Island with the WSBK crowd. Corser was the WSBK champ at that time and Mat cleaned his clock on the track. If I remember correctly they were both riding different spec bikes that didn't bear comparison so the times were not really comparable except to the press (who of course made a big deal out of it). Also there is often a good reason why times are far apart in testing because different riders are testing different things. One may be trying a qualifying tyre whilst the other may be running a full fuel load. Only the team willknow for certain who is trying what and when. Unless they are both on the same spec bike and are both trying for a fast time then the speculation is useless, and that only happens in races. What is true is that Mladin avoided racing in WSBK and GP's for whatever reason he chooses to give, so doesn't know the riders as well as he thinks he does. What does he know about Danny Pedrosa or Jorge Lorenzo other than what he reads in the press? So to suggest that they wouldn't be capable of riding on US tracks is ridiculous. That would be like me saying that Ben Spies couldn't manage to ride at Oulton Park or Brands Hatch. The last time Mladin tried to race in GP was in 1993 and his best result was 7th place I think (on the same bike that Kocinski and Lawson managed to win on). Hardly qualification to start slagging off riders who are way faster than he will ever be in MotoGP. I almost wish Mladin had taken the satellite BMW ride he was allegedly offered this winter just so we could see just how good he thinks he is. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Playhard |
The BMW ride wouldn't have proven anything. A brand new bike and team is not a combination for success no matter who is riding it, especially in WSB. I'm sure that decision took Mat about 10 min to decide. Didn't turn out so well for Corser last season, who is one of Mat's fellow country men & friend. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jaimec |
Mat has friends??? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vagelis46 |
The way I see it : 1. They are people that like racing motorcycle for a living at a top level, like Carlos Checa, even if they are given a 2nd rate bike that gives them no hope for the title. Occasionally they show signs of their speed and experience by winning races in the top level................ 2. They are people that are bad losers and they just like winning, and take absoutely no chances, like Mladin. They are always many question marks about the real speed and talent of these racers, but because they take no risks, these questions have no answer............. I personaly respect racers like Checa, much, much more than racers like Mladin. Mladin thinks that Lorenzo and Stoner are slow ????? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Blake |
Matt, "With the exception of Nicky Hayden and Ben Spies who else in recent years has come over and won?" Dude. Mate. Amigo.
By "no American contesting" I mean none on any top tier team capable of challenging for a win let alone the championship. So for nine of 16 years in WSBK when an American rider contested the championship, an American rider won. We own Superbike racing. In the broader sense, it appears that the Anglo-Aussie-Americans truly own Superbike racing. Interesting.
NUSAC = No USA Contestant | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chadhargis |
"Can't pull a greased axle out of a dogs a**" CLASSIC!! Yeah Mat, those superbikes last year sure were slow "road bikes". And yeah, there is no way Pedrosa, Stoner, etc. could step off their 200+hp MotoGP bikes and ride an AMA bike. [sarcasm off] Mat's a good racer, but every interview I've see with him makes him come off as arrogant and egotistical. He might be the nicest guy in the world, but he sorely needs a good PR guy. In contrast, look at Rossi or Troy Bayliss. Both come off as such genuine nice guys. You can't help but like them. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Blake |
I think that his point was that strength and stature are an advantage at more of the tracks versus the flowing tracks of the GP circuit and that the bigger higher torque bikes are more suited to larger racers. Will be interesting to see what happens next year when MotoGP goes back to proper literbike racing. Expect the "midgets" to suffer while Rossi, Spies, Edwards, and Hayden benefit. I hope Jorge does well though. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Blake |
He can be an arrogant jackass though. No argument there. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Buell2001b |
well when you wins all the time, you can't blame the guy for not being a little more down to earth. I would hav love to see what he could do at least once in moto Gp, but then why would he risk his good reputation. i do have to say I love when he said that he could have won with the 1125RR. he respects erik buell racing alot. I would love to see mat start his own team and but a buell and kick some ass. that would be the ultimate. he would prove with no doubt he is the best AMA ever had | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jaimec |
Capirossi's no basketball player but he's built like a tank. He definitely did better with the 990s than he has been with the 800s despite his short stature. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bads1 |
Ummmm Bill.... Miladin did own his own team. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Playhard |
I absolutely agree, he comes off as an arrogant SOB. But man, as a road racer myself, I loved to watch him ride. He rarely ever backed it into a corner and almost never spun up the rear exiting a corner but yet was usually the fastest on the track thus proving that smooth is fast... He was so smooth, he made it look easy. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jaimec |
Mat just tells it like it is, without the sugar coating. In our overly PC world he's a breath of fresh air. As he's said before... he wasn't paid to make friends... he was paid to win races. Unlike some of the others on the track he couldn't be friendly in one moment, and then want to rip someones lungs out on the track the next. It was easier for him to just separate racing from his personal life by not getting close to anyone he competed against. Reminds me of a certain goalie for a championship-winning hockey team in the late 70's/early 80's actually... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bads1 |
Boy Jamie.... maybe Matt has something to teach Rossi and a few other racers a thing or two about being a Champion.LOL | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rocketsprink |
I had the displeasure of meeting Mat a few times and sitting in on a riders meeting. He is a self centered arrogant @sshole that has nothing nice to say about anyone. He's a self serving dickhead in my book. A talented racer yes. An AMA champion. Not a World champion. |
